The Moral March on Raleigh demonstrated Saturday that the Forward Together Movement's fusion politics is no longer a loose coalition of single-issue groups pursuing their own goals, but a unified movement.

The News & Observer opines that the broad coalition of protesters that assembled in Raleigh on Saturday represents mainstream North Carolina, not that the Republican-led legislature acknowledges it, or cares:

To see the long ranks of protesters was to wonder how much longer North Carolina’s Republican leaders can dismiss them as a rabble, as outsiders, as “takers,” as agitators, and not see them for who they are: The People. Their issues include labor conditions, pay for public employees, environmental protections, voting rights, fair taxation, help for the unemployed, gay rights, abortion rights and civil rights.

But another of their issues is one they hold in common: They feel they are not being heard. And the deafness of the state’s political powers is deliberate. Legislative leaders and the governor can’t hear above the sound of the corporate money that steers their agenda. And even if they could, they wouldn’t listen. The people in the streets holding signs and chanting are not people they consider “the mainstream” or “real Americans.”

Led by NC NAACP president Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, the Forward Together movement may be indigenous to North Carolina, but Saturday's mass rally showed that its influence is expanding. Moral Monday protests are starting in Georgia and South Carolina. Over two dozen states sent marchers to Raleigh on Saturday -- from neighboring southern states to New York, Florida and Missouri.

Not just a coalition of single-issue groups, this fusion movement recognizes that their varied interests are connected in their struggle against the "extremism" of North Carolina's General Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory. Forward Together set five demands for 2014:

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More C&L Coverage

The Moral March on Raleigh demonstrated Saturday that the Forward Together Movement's fusion politics is no longer a loose coalition of single-issue groups pursuing their own goals, but a unified movement.

'What we hope this march will do is send a signal around the country that if these legislatures in other Southern states start this extremism, this is what they will face in their state,' said the Rev. William Barber II.

'What we hope this march will do is send a signal around the country that if these legislatures in other Southern states start this extremism, this is what they will face in their state,' said the Rev. William Barber II.

Moral Monday protests in North Carolina against a raft of recent legislation targeting voters and teachers will continue in 2014. Reporting by the AP suggests that the protests will spread across the South.

Moral Monday protests in North Carolina against a raft of recent legislation targeting voters and teachers will continue in 2014. Reporting by the AP suggests that the protests will spread across the South.

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